Antje Budge, past ICE Cheshire chair and non-native English speaker, explains that language has the power to include or exclude.
Clear, inclusive language can help build bridges and connect people, helping everyone to feel part of a group.
How can we make sure that we take this into account in our daily interactions, at work and in our private life?
There’s been plenty of discussion about how the language we use can be divisive or inclusive.
For example, talking about 'workmen', when 'workforce' would include everybody.
Thinking of how we use language
Working in teams with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds means language is important on a much more basic level.
We talk to our colleagues, family, friends, and strangers on the street.
And most of us don’t want to upset anybody with the language we use or come away from an encounter upset because of how another person spoke to us.
Cultural differences
I came to England from my native Germany in 1997.
Although my knowledge of English was very good, I remember the first time that I properly felt 'at home' was when I was talking to somebody in a lift about the weather.
It felt like a very British thing to do – we don't really do small talk in Germany.
This made me realise that language plays a huge part in feeling truly settled and connected.
It’s the small things
Language is interesting – small things can make you feel included or connected.
This could be a shared joke that you suddenly understand whether that’s in a second language or in a new group of people.
It could be people taking note of what you have to say or checking that you understand.
It’s trying to include everyone in a conversation, like when somebody is standing off to the side and not joining in.
Or even starting some 'small talk' about the weather or a chat about the weekend or a TV show.
Language can connect or divide
Talking to people will help them feel included, and you can find out more about the challenges somebody might face.
This openness can only really happen once positive relationships have been established though.
These feelings of being connected also support the wider awareness of mental health, and how reaching out to people is beneficial.
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The opposite is also true – feeling excluded from conversations can have a very negative impact.
Being able to share jokes and puns is great for feeling at home in a language – but the flip side of this is that people might unwillingly feel excluded.
When somebody tells a joke and everyone laughs, but I don’t get the joke – could it be that I am the punchline?
Diverse teams – an opportunity
We’re working in teams that are getting more diverse, with people from a wide cultural background.
This is an amazing opportunity to learn from each other, but it could be easy to feel excluded in a team because of language barriers.
And this can be even in interactions between people with a shared language – a TV box set in the United States had me reaching for a dictionary at times (grits and gravy for breakfast, anyone?).
It’s easy to misinterpret what somebody says when we come from different cultures and backgrounds.
Think of how others might feel
One point to remember is that sometimes a written message might come across as harsh or unfriendly, because the writer isn’t as used to communicating in written English.
Or they may be used to a more formal written language.
Video calls or face-to-face meetings can help in building much more personal connections.
Workplaces can foster an environment where the usual topics for casual chats aren’t just football-based, or similar.
I’ve heard from some female team members that aren’t interested in the sport that this makes them feel very excluded from office chats.
Create opportunities
To create other opportunities, specific events can be created.
For example, one company had a competition for the best pets in PPE (personal protective equipment).
This allowed employees to submit a photo of their pet and vote for the best 12 photos for the final calendar.
This created a real buzz in the office and created opportunities for conversations.
How can we make everybody feel included?
Technical language
A good way to make people feel included in our working day is to ensure that our technical language is appropriate for the audience.
On every project I’ve ever worked on, I’ve had to learn new acronyms (along with a host of other information about the project).
Some projects are worse for this than others – and being aware of this when new people start in the industry, or a new project, is going to be very beneficial.
Does your project have a list of commonly used acronyms? Do you encourage people to ask questions when something does not make sense?
Familiarise yourself with other languages
Another way to help with communication might be to add a pronunciation guide to your email signature – helping others to pronounce unfamiliar names.
On my current project, we even had a course to learn some basic sign language – and the people attending included work placement students, engineers and support staff.
For some people onsite, English won’t be their first language, so review how you can make sure that they understand briefings and safety instructions.
Translate important safety notices, create bespoke inductions, use symbols, and make sure that they really understand how to keep safe.
An example of this is where a specialist subcontractor was brought in for a short time from abroad for a specific item of work – a specific site induction and briefing material was prepared.
Talk to each other
Don’t be afraid to talk to each other. Get to know each other better.
Engage the younger team members – their fresh view of our industry can really help to develop the way we manage our sites.
The more we can learn about each other and from each other, the better we can understand our colleagues and work together at creating diverse and caring teams.
